It's like a war out there - Spring Festival in China

Beijing, China

What I may have missed in terms of celebration or atmosphere during Christmas and New Year was all made up for on 6th of February. Both in significance and scale the Spring Festival - aka Chinese/Lunar New Year - is like Christmas and the Western New Year combined together. It's a time for the family to gather together, eat lots of (homecooked) food, play Mah Jongg, for children to pay respect to their grandparents and receive red packets (small red envelops containing money) in return. Like Christmas in the west this is the time when people overcome their stingy self and spend lots of money - mainly on food and on Mah Jongg. But since it's a time of renewal they also buy lots of other new things. And on fireworks. Yes, this is the time when every foreigner gets a reminder of who invented the stuff.
Starting a few days before the end of the lunar year the sound of firecrackers becomes your constant companion. There are the rockets and single crackers that we also see in the west. Then there are the famous chains that may look small and harmless (if they just have 300-odd members) but when lit produce a staccato like a full-blown machine gun. Believe me: keep your distance. Size matters not! And then you get the single big ones. They pack a boom strong enough to rattle your window and set off car alarms (and probably pace makers) at a distance.
This noise then gets a bit more intense every day until the eve of New Year. Then when you think people must have run out by now, used up their last stashes, it reaches a climax of epic proportions. At midnight that day it's like all hell breaks loose all at once. I've never seen anything like it in Europe - even in a metropolis like London or Berlin. I believe it must be loud of enough to wake up the spirits of the ancestors. And it seems to go on forever. In Europe the big climax normally fades into silence as people run out or get tired. Not so in China. Nobody seems to get tired, so things go on like this for more than an hour. At the same time the atmosphere is electrifying: young and old come outside despite the cold February night to join the fun or at least to watch. Everybody seems happy. So, I couldn't help buying some, as well, and it was great fun to make some noise. And then when my meagre supplies had run out me and my friend just stood outside being amazed.
Then the night is up and you think silence will return. And you're wrong again. New Year festivities carry on for two weeks. The only weeks of the year when it is legal in China to buy or sell firecrackers. People make the most of it. After some time it all becomes background noise. The only thing that remains is quiet amazement at how much money people are willing to spend on this. Big (1000 - 5000) chains of firecrackers easily cost hundreds of RMB. The kids love it, of course.
And then comes the second climax: 元宵节; 15 days after New Year marks the end of Spring Festival. And for one more night all hell breaks loose again as people fire about anything they have left into the air (at least, that was my impression). It goes on for hours. Once more people celebrate and traditionally eat a soup with sweet dumplings: 元宵. And finally, the war is over and almost to my disappointment silence returns - or as much as silence ever returns in a country as lively and populated as China.

哪里，哪里 - Not at all, not at all

Here's another observation about Chinese people. It's a common one made by many foreigners here but it's a very lovable one and it's always worth saying again.
While the Chinese themselves are very humble and reluctant to accept any praise they are very eager to deal it out. The most common example is that of the foreigner that just manages to pronounce the "ni hao" (hello) reasonably correctly. This will most likely earn him a praise of "oh, your Chinese is so good" or "you speak almost as good as Chinese people".
Now, while these days in Western countries it is common to acknowledge a compliment with a polite nod and a "thank you" it is considered polite in China to completely deny the compliment. Still, in areas where foreigners are common people have got used to Westerners' ways of saying "thank you". However, if you counter their compliment with an appropriate "bu hao, bu hao" (not good, not good) or "nali, nali" (not at all, not at all) you're likely to get even more praise for knowing this cultural detail. This happened even from our teachers and even though this habit is commonly mentioned in every textbook. If you then praise your opposite's English or other language proficiency this can lead to interesting exchanges of mutual praising and denying.

This habit and its consequences are nicely illustrated in a (Chinese) joke, which goes like this:
A foreigner who is just learning Chinese is meeting his Chinese friend and his wife. In class the foreigner has learnt that you should praise, so for example praise your friend's wife. So he says: "你老婆很漂亮. (Your wife is very pretty.)"
The Chinese friend, of course being humble, replies: "哪里,哪里. (not at all, but can also mean a question of "where, where abouts")"
So, the foreigner, misunderstanding, responds by pointing at the important parts of the lady's anatomy commenting: "这里漂亮,这里也漂亮... (here she's pretty, here she's also pretty)"

Of course, this habit eventually leads to the fact that you don't take any compliments seriously anymore. I just know my Chinese level is not that good. Still, in other - especially English-speaking - countries people just take for granted that your speak - or try to speak - their language. It's nice to have your ego stroked once in a while.